Every season has its beauty, but perhaps spring is the most of all. There is something awe-inspiring about new life emerging from the dark and cold of winter.
Being new to New Mexico, my wife and I are trying to plan out what to plant at our new home this year. At our last home, I was so excited in the spring for our fruit trees to blossom and start producing. But the most remarkable tree was our Meyer Lemon. It sits along the side of the driveway and it produces a bounty of lemons all year long. It seemed that the more we picked, the more it produced. It provided more than we could ever use and we were able to bless others with the bountiful overflow. Now the new resident is enjoying it.
Some Cub packs see recruiting as a single harvest in the fall. Others continue to cultivate and see a year-round harvest. Some of our troops see recruiting as the role of the pack, others actively recruit outside of Scouting throughout the year. You can probably guess who has the bumper crop.
Some might feel that Scouting has been in a winter freeze from COVID and other factors in recent history, but in this, our springtime, it is no less awe-inspiring to see the great resilience with which so much of our Scouting is returning. The Conquistador Council saw overall membership growth in 2023 and we have several new packs, troops, and posts forming around our council.
Families need all family members to have a values-based program in the out-of-doors at the greatest level perhaps in history. Scouting is the perfect place for them to find it. Some of you are preparing for a fall harvest, but look to the fields, they are ready for a harvest.
May you and your Scouts blossom this spring and have a bountiful crop of new members.